Summary: The sermon deals with the sin of gossip and slander.

---We all have our individual struggles when dealing with taming the tongue!

---Swearing, lying, boasting, gossip and slander, silent

Ill: There were three preachers on a fishing trip –confess their sins!

1. I like to drink a little too much!

2. I like to visit some unsavory women!

3. Brothers I hate to tell you this I have a real problem with gossip!

TABOLIDS PROVE HOW MUCH WE LOVE SCANDOLUS NEWS! We have all heard information that we have wondered what we should do with it?

The word gossip originates from a Greek word that means “to whisper”

There is only one time in the NT that a Greek word is translated as gossip and it is found in 1Timothy 5:13. It used to refer to women in the church who are widows and they are going from house to house repeating things that should not be said or mentioned. The word is phluo and it means to boil up or blow up empty bubbles.

Once a pot begins to boil it will overflow and create a real mess!

The Bible gives some guidance on how to handle idle talk!

1. What is the message that has been shared?

2. What is the motive of the message?

3. What is the correct method to share the message?

I. What is the message that is being shared?

1. PURPOSE TEST: ---We often have items in our lives that just sit around and collect dust. I found this stamp that Melvin Newland left in the office and I’m really not sure what it is good for!

When we receive information that is of an unsavory nature we need to decide what to do with it! It is not gossip to share information that is negative about a person!

Ill: A kid reports that his coach has touch him in an inappropriate way and has asked you not to report him or her.

Ill: A kid in your youth group is pregnant and plans to have an abortion but ask you to not tell.

Ill: If your friends husband is running around and she is the only one that does not know what do you do?

Ill: A friend is taking things at work!

2. The second test the message must pass is the “truth test?”

Proverbs 6:19--There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

Against Paul--They produced false witnesses, who testified, "This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law.

TRUE OR FALSE?

Power Point---1. Gov. George Bush declared June 10, 2000 “Jesus Day” in Texas—true

2. John Wayne, near the end of his life, accepted Jesus because of a letter sent from an injured girl who attended Robert Schuler’s Crystal Cathedral. -false

3. A Physician weighed bodies after death to determine the weight of the human soul.—True

4. Petition to Ban Religious Broadcasting Claim: Atheists are petitioning the FCC to get religious broadcasting banned from American airwaves..false..